The three funds, IMST, ICOI, and IMRA, managed by Jeff Park and the Bitwise portfolio management team, aim to generate monthly income and maximize upside exposure to underlying stocks through daily active management and nimble, market-based adjustments.
Global crypto asset manager Bitwise Asset Management announced today the launch of three option income strategy ETFs that seek to capitalize on volatility through rigorous daily active management, leveraging Bitwise’s pure-play focus on the crypto market:
- The Bitwise MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF (IMST)
- The Bitwise COIN Option Income Strategy ETF (ICOI)
- The Bitwise MARA Option Income Strategy ETF (IMRA)
The funds’ “covered call” strategies involve selling call options on the stocks of Strategy (MSTR), Coinbase (COIN), and MARA Holdings (MARA), respectively, while maintaining long exposure to the underlying stocks.
The funds will be managed by Bitwise Head of Alpha Strategies Jeff Park, a distinguished expert in crypto and institutional derivatives trading with previous experience at Corbin Capital, Harvard Management Company, and Morgan Stanley. Park and the Bitwise portfolio management team seek to generate monthly income for investors and maximize participation in the stocks’ capital appreciation, subject to limits on potential gains, by selectively selling call options with the goal of balancing momentum, market news, and derivative-market dynamics.
“The high volatility of stocks like MSTR, COIN, and MARA creates compelling opportunities to generate income,” said Park. “But it’s essential to be constantly monitoring news, capital flows, regulatory developments, options pricing, market sentiment, and other dynamics to most intelligently capitalize on this strategy. That’s the approach we’re taking with IMST, ICOI, and IMRA, and we hope to bring investors the combination of monthly income and strong, limited participation in equity gains as a result.”
Covered call strategies involve gaining exposure to a security while simultaneously selling out-of-the-money call options on it. The strategy is designed to provide regular income distributions to investors from option sales while aiming to benefit from the security’s potential gains.
“Crypto is well known historically both for its performance and its high volatility,” said Bitwise CEO Hunter Horsley. “That volatility presents a unique opportunity to generate income. We’re thrilled to expand the Bitwise suite with IMST, ICOI, and IMRA to enable investors to capitalize on that volatility.”
The funds will make income distributions monthly, and the net expense ratio for each is 0.98%. (The gross expense ratio for ICOI and IMST is 0.99%, with a fee waiver in place through March 25, 2027.)
Founded in 2017, Bitwise offers industry-leading education and a broad suite of professional investment products spanning ETFs, private funds, multi-strategy solutions, separately managed account strategies, and staking. The firm has over 100 technology and investment professionals and serves as a partner to thousands of investment professionals and financial institutions looking to understand and gain exposure to bitcoin and other crypto assets.
RISKS AND IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Carefully consider the investment objectives, risk factors, charges, and expenses of the Bitwise COIN Option Income Strategy ETF (ICOI), Bitwise MARA Option Income Strategy ETF (IMRA), and Bitwise MSTR Option Income Strategy ETF (IMST) (each a “Fund” and together the “Funds”) before investing. This and additional information can be found in each Fund’s full or summary prospectus, which may be obtained by visiting: for ICOI, icoietf.com/materials; for IMRA, imraetf.com/materials; for IMST, imstetf.com/materials. Investors should read it carefully before investing.
An investment in a Fund is not an investment in the underlying security. The Funds do not invest directly in shares of COIN, MARA, or MSTR. Fund shareholders are not entitled to any dividends from the underlying security.
A Fund’s strategy is subject to all potential losses if shares of the underlying security decrease in value, which may not be offset by income received by the Fund.
Market Risk. Market risk is the risk that a particular security, or Fund Shares in general, may fall in value. Securities are subject to market fluctuations caused by such factors as economic, political, regulatory or market developments, changes in interest rates and perceived trends in securities prices.
Covered Call Strategy Risk. A covered call strategy involves writing (selling) covered call options in return for the receipt of premiums. The seller of the option gives up the opportunity to benefit from price increases in the underlying instrument above the exercise price of the options but continues to bear the risk of underlying instrument price declines. The premiums received from the options may not be sufficient to offset any losses sustained from underlying instrument price declines over time.
The covered call strategy utilized by the Funds is “synthetic” because the Funds’ exposure to the price return of the underlying security is derived through options exposure, rather than direct holdings of the shares of the underlying security. Because such exposure is synthetic, it is possible that the Fund’s participation in the price return of the underlying security may not be as precise as if the Fund were directly holding shares of the underlying security.
Issuer-Specific Risks. Issuer-specific attributes may cause an investment held by the Fund to be more volatile than the market generally. The value of an individual security or particular type of security may be more volatile than the market as a whole and may perform differently from the value of the market as a whole.
Equity Securities Risk. Equity securities are subject to changes in value, and their values may be more volatile than those of other asset classes.
Digital Assets Risk. Coinbase, MARA Holdings, and Strategy (each a “Company” and together the “Companies”) may have substantial holdings of bitcoin and other digital assets. Accordingly, it is subject to the risks associated with such holdings. Bitcoin is a relatively new innovation and the market for bitcoin is subject to rapid price swings, changes and uncertainty. Bitcoin is subject to the risk of fraud, theft, manipulation or security failures, operational or other problems that impact the digital asset trading venues on which bitcoin trades. The realization of any of these risks could result in a decline in the acceptance of bitcoin and consequently a reduction in the value of bitcoin and shares of COIN, MARA, or MSTR.
Custody Risk. Security breaches, computer malware and computer hacking attacks have been a prevalent concern in relation to digital assets. The bitcoin held by the Companies will likely be an appealing target to hackers or malware distributors seeking to destroy, damage or steal bitcoins. To the extent that any Company is unable to identify and mitigate or stop new security threats or otherwise adapt to technological changes in the digital asset industry, that Company’s bitcoins may be subject to theft, loss, destruction or other attack.
Digital Asset Regulatory Risk. There is a lack of consensus regarding the regulation of digital assets, including bitcoin, and their markets. Ongoing and future regulatory actions with respect to digital assets generally or bitcoin in particular may alter, perhaps to a materially adverse extent, the nature of an investment in the shares of the underlying security or the ability of the Companies to continue to operate.
Concentration Risk. The Fund is susceptible to an increased risk of loss, including losses due to adverse events that affect the Fund’s investments more than the market as a whole, to the extent that the Fund’s investments are concentrated in investments that provide exposure to the underlying securities and the industry to which they are assigned.
Derivatives Risk. The use of derivative instruments involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities and other traditional investments. Derivative prices are highly volatile and may fluctuate substantially during a short period of time. Trading derivative instruments involves risks different from, or possibly greater than, the risks associated with investing directly in securities. The use of leverage may cause the Fund to liquidate portfolio positions when it would not be advantageous to do so in order to satisfy its obligations or to meet regulatory or contractual requirements for derivatives. The use of derivatives can magnify potential for gain or loss and, therefore, amplify the effects of market volatility on share price.
New Fund Risk. The Fund is a recently organized investment company with a limited operating history. As a result, prospective investors have a limited track record or history on which to base their investment decision.
Options Risk. The use of options involves investment strategies and risks different from those associated with ordinary portfolio securities transactions and depends on the ability of the Fund’s portfolio managers to forecast market movements correctly. The prices of options are volatile and are influenced by, among other things, actual and anticipated changes in the value of the underlying instrument, or in interest or currency exchange rates, including the anticipated volatility, which in turn are affected by fiscal and monetary policies and by national and international political and economic events.
Nondiversification Risk. The Fund is nondiversified and may hold a smaller number of portfolio securities than many other products. To the extent the Fund invests in a relatively small number of issuers, a decline in the market value of a particular security held by the Fund may affect its value more than if it invested in a larger number of issuers.
ICOI, IMRA, and IMST are distributed by Foreside Fund Services, LLC, which is not affiliated with Bitwise or any of its affiliates.
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Contacts
Frank Taylor/Stephanie Dressler
Dukas Linden Public Relations
Bitwise@dlpr.com
